Planning for a party of 25


 
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Pat McCreight

TVWBB Pro
I've been asked to bring food for a party this weekend, serving around 25 people.

I have approximately 7 pounds of frozen cooked brisket (mixture of point and flat) that I plan to chop and reheat in a light sauce. I will serve that with white bread or sandwich buns.

I also want to offer boneless chicken thighs. Does this plan sound okay? I will cook about 40 pieces of chicken (to 170) the day before...put on sheet pans to cool in fridge...place in foodsaver bag and vacuum seal. About 1.5 hours before serving, I will put the chicken in a large foil pan and cover with bbq sauce, reheating with a gentle simmer, covered.

Does this sound reasonable? Any tips on the chicken reheat, or a good sauce to mix up with the brisket?

Thanks
 
Can't you reheat in the food saver bags? Ever thought of boiling up a big pot of water and floating those bags in there?
 
Yes, I've done that for smaller quantities and it works fine. I don't want to put 20 or so chicken thighs in a boiling pot. Plus, I'm trying to avoid the "made ahead" look as much as possible.
 
Pat, no way you can drag a kettle to the party and just do the chicken there? I'm not much help on warming the chicken, sorry.

I do my chopped brisket point in SBR, Honey and a little chipotle powder and it seem to be quite popular.
 
That would work fine for the chicken. I'd likely only take them to the low 160s the first go around, then reheat in sauce at a low simmer, ~180-190, to 175-180 in the thighs. If you can get good color on the skin (if keeping skin on) when you first cook them so much the better.

(If you have racks and can cool the chicken for a bot on racks over pans before fridging to finish cooling you will tax your fridge's compressor less.)
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">no way you can drag a kettle to the party and just do the chicken there? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Larry, not really. Weather is supposed to be pretty crummy this weekend and I'll have too much else going on. How much honey do you add to the SBR?

Kevin,

I'm doing skinless, boneless thighs so I don't have to worry about the skin. Most would prefer to not eat skin anyways.

If I target 165 the first cook, that will keep them in the safe zone, assuming I cool and reheat properly?
 
Just an update - I did the chicken this way and it turned out excellent. No one could tell I cooked the chicken early - it was very moist and juicy and so easy to do. I basically followed the Jumpin Jim's recipe. I marinated the boneless, skinless thighs in Italian dressing overnight. I then grilled them over high heat until 165. I then cooled the chicken and vac sealed the thighs. I put the chicken in two foil 1/2 pans, covered with SBR and reheated at 325 in the oven for 1 hour. Very easy, lots of compliments.

As for the brisket...well I ended up using pulled pork because I had more in the freezer. I reheated in 2 pans at 425. I mixed in equal parts (thanks Bryan S) butter, chicken broth, and my serving sauce with the pork prior to reheating. About 15 minutes in I gave it a good stir. Took about 30 minutes total and tasted great.
 
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